Madrid -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Former Spanish Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez died at a Madrid hospital Sunday after long illness , his family said . Suarez was 81 .

Suarez was Spain 's first prime minister in the transition to democracy after the long dictatorship of Francisco Franco , who died in November 1975 .

King Juan Carlos , who appointed Suarez prime minister in 1976 , issued a televised statement calling him `` a great servant of Spain and was not always well understood . ''

`` Suarez is the example that we can together overcome the greatest difficulties , '' King Juan Carlos said .

Suarez convened the first democratic elections in 1977 . He resigned in early 1981 , just weeks before an unsuccessful coup attempt by military officers .

People we lost in 2014

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King Juan Carlos appointed Suarez prime minister in 1976

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The king calls him `` a great servant of Spain and was not always well understood ''

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Suarez , 81 , died at a Madrid hospital after a long illness , his family says